Do not think of the feel good Rocky Mountain vibes of Big
Head Todd, Floodplain Gang or String Cheese Incident when you think of
Colorado’s Thinking Plague.This band
arose during the 1980s from basement jam sessions between guitarist/composer
Mike Johnson and bassist/drummer Bob Drake who shared a common love of the
symphonic progressivism of Yes, the avant-garde progressive rock/jazz of Henry
Cow and the jazz –fusion of the Mahavishnu Orchestra as well as the classical
compositions of Bartok, Prokofiev and Stravinsky.

Truly defining the word “eclectic,
Thinking Plague touches on progressive, folk, punk, world music and jazz.This music is often labeled as Rock in Opposition
– a movement started in the 1960s by Henry Cow.It is the avant-garde/free jazz of the rock and roll world.Just as Albert Ayler and Art Ensemble of
Chicago abandoned traditional jazz characteristics, Thinking Plague has
abandoned stereotypical rock and roll characteristics such as chorus, break
beat and overall structure.The one
characteristic that is retained is the breakdown, but with Thinking Plague,
they are in a perpetual stage of breakdown.

In the magazine, Bob Drake explained the reasoning behind the
band’s moniker: “So anyway, Thinking Plague means the disease of thinking in a
society where too much thinking is considered as grounds for shunning,
suspicion of mental instability, dismissal as out of touch with the
"real" world.The disease of
the dreamer be she/he a scientist or a poet."

The album Early Plague Years is a collection of the
band’s first two albums Moonsongs (1986) and …A Thinking Plague (1984).Bob Drake re-mastered and repackaged the two
original LPs into one fine CD package.There were only 500 hand painted copies of the original 1984 album as
well as some subsequent cassette releases.The album ranges from the hard rocking, sonically pungent, politically
motivated “Warheads” and then moves into the ethereal, percussive, chant laden
tracks of “Etude for Combo’’, Collarless Fog”,“Inside Out” and the epic “Moonsongs”.

This album is for those who are looking for a fresh look at
what can be created within the open world of rock and roll.What you will find won’t be melodic and
finger snapping but it will insightful and talented.

This Los Angeles band that has been hard at creating dark,
heavy improvised progressive rock for the last sixteen years.The band started as a live jam band (while
many of today “jam banders” were listening to the Hooters) and the band slowly
developed into a studio oriented progressive band.The name comes from a Harlan
Ellison novel, and it is Balinese phrase that means "elastic time-the hour
that stretches.”This could be a direct
reference to the band’s earliest gigs, which were one non-stop improvisational
jam sessions.During these sessions and
through their subsequent albums, Djam Karet combined heavy guitar rock with
Eastern drone music.

Reflections of a Firepool is a
re-releases of the band’s 1989 debut studio effort.Djam Karet had been an active live jamming band since its 1984
inception and it took them until Reflections to actually enter the
studio.The band is lead by the dual
soaring guitars of Gayle Ellett and
Mike Henderson while drummer Chuck Oken Jr. and bassist Henry J. Osborne propel
the band into multiple moods and polyrhythms.“The Sky Opens Twice” is an all out dueling guitar onslaught
guitar driven rock reminiscent of King Crimson while “Fall of the Monkeywalk”
is a percussion jam that reflects the band’s fascination with the music of the
Middle East.Two of the finest tracks
are “Reflections From The Firepool” and
“Run Cerberus Run” which display the epic compositional skills of the
band.For anyone who appreciates the
gradual jams of Phish songs such as “Harry Hood” or Pink Floyd songs such as
“Echoes”, than you will find many of the tunes (such as “The Sky Opens Twice”)
on Reflections of a Firepool equally thought provoking.

On the surface, the four members of Djam Karet may look like
your run of the mill two guitars, drum and bass outfit, but after listening to Reflections
of a Firepool, one will find a collection of sounds and instruments that
are truly impressive.

Motor
Totemist Guild -All American City(Independent records, 1999).

This album consists of the music from the soundtrack to the
movie, YU GAKUSEI.The music was
composed by James Grigsby, who also controls the samplers and computers.The rest ofMotor Totemist Guild consists of Bridget Convey (piano), Rod Poole
(acoustic guitar), Hannes Giger (contrabass) andDavid Kerman (drums).The
band is also joined byThe Unwitting
Accomplices -Lynn Johnston (saxophones), Tom Watson (feedback), Belinda Cheng (
air & water), Sanjay Kumar (sardar), Kaori Grigsby (voice), and Luigi Futi
(sketchbook).All American City
consists of 23 songs that range from the opening “The Blue Lantern” which clocks
in at a quick 18 seconds and the epic foray into Cageian noise, the 27+ minute
“Yamatonadeshiko.”The music touches on
little of everything: Stockhausen, The Residents, Albert Ayler, Daniel Denis,
Univers Zero, Alloy Orchestra, andHenry Cow.The music takes
unpredictable directions, sometimes touching on the music of chamber music
ensembles, creating dark and haunting atmospheres.